The Four Energies of Writing — Use Emotions — Don’t Wallow in Them
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Alright, all of us writers, as people, well, I think most writers are people…anyway, we all have energies in our lives, positive and negative. All of it, good or bad, is almost like electricity flowing into what you write. If it’s powerful enough, passionate enough, it will affect many people — yourself — an agent or editor, or both — whoever will handle promotion and publicity — whoever designs the cover — whoever gets your book into stores or a website online — and of course your readers, those who buy the books.
So, let’s think about that energy and how to channel it. I hope you’re not writing just to write with the hope that eventually you’ll sell something and make a living. Listen to writer Henry Miller, who reportedly told people, “If you can’t not be a writer, then be a writer.” There’s a lot of truth to that, no matter what you write.
If you can’t be passionate and powerful in your wordsmithing, then perhaps it would be better for you to find something you can be passionate about for your life’s work. Your writing has to be compelling for you. It will take a lot of effort to create a well-written piece and that takes energy, it takes juice. Without passion, you won’t get there.
Consider, there are different types of energy you can connect with. Some positive, some negative, but all will help you produce good writing. All will push you along. So, stop and think about the kind of energy you have and can use.
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On the positive side, there’s what Joseph Campbell used to call ‘bliss’. Frequently, he said, “Follow your bliss”. Basically, that one calls for excitement and passion or perhaps love and fascination. It’s a state where you, as the writer, can be obsessed with your characters or the research that goes into your book, fascinated by what you learn while researching or as your characters evolve. This can come just because of the subject you’ve chosen, or it can be a joy and ‘bliss’ from your life that is injected into your book. It can swing either way, and when it swings both ways, it can be magic.
Another inspiration for your writing is the wonderful energy that courses through you when someone encourages you in your writing life or simply believes in you. When a mentor, a teacher, another writer, or perhaps your spouse or parent lifts you up, it is a rush like few others. Sometimes just being in the right place at the right time can bless you with a similar feeling, one that speaks to the writer in you and releases your intent into accomplishment. Think about who has encouraged you and feel that warm swirl that fills your belly and curls into your heart.
On the more negative side is the kind of surge you feel when you’re so upset, angry, or miserable that you feel you must get it down on paper, purged through writing. This kind of intense energy can lend fire and grit to your prose or your desire to write articles from the heart. Or, if you’ve experienced some kind of injustice and want to right some wrong through your writing, that’s the kind of motivation that can light a ‘fire in the belly’.
Another incredibly powerful negative that can spark your writing in new directions is that generated by someone putting you down, rejecting you, and wounding you emotionally. Take this hurt and rejection that we’ve all felt at some time in our lives, and usually repeatedly along the way, and turn it into creative energy. Turn it to the universal experience of life, and it will inflame your writing. Pour out your hurt and anger in a private screed if you have to, but when that is accomplished, turn that same energy to your writing for public view. Think about someone who’s hurt you or put you down. Connect with those emotions and write with that held near.
Finally, there’s just plain pissed off. This can be caused by much the same events as the paragraph above, but instead of pity and hate, perhaps the buttons that were pushed for you were anger and righteous indignation or outright fury rather than hurt. Oh, anger can be a very powerful emotion and an incredible motivator.
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In Conclusion:
Mine the emotions, find the juice, and your writing will flower. Now is not the time to suppress what are universal emotions. Now is the time to learn to direct your emotions. If you need to have a journaling session to flush out in private the really nasty parts before you go to your ‘for public view’ creation. You can wallow a bit in positive emotions if you like. Experience these emotions, then turn them into positive catalysts for your writing, but don’t wallow in negative emotions.
All of this will lend power to your writing, so have at it.
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